LOCOMOTION: The National Railway Museum in Shildon will continue its quest to be energy sufficient when it welcomes its latest addition today.

A purpose-built minibus will arrive at the New Shildon site this morning to take on its role of ferrying visitors between Timothy Hackworth's home and former works to the centre.

The 17-seater bus can carry four wheelchairs, and one of the main reasons for choosing it was because it runs on bio-diesel.

Museum manager George Muirhead said: "It fits in with the museum's determination to be sustainable. When work on the museum started, we worked with our colleagues at the National Museum for Science and contractors Whitby Bird to find a sustainable, environmentally friendly form of transport, and we decided on this vehicle."

The museum now harbours ambitions, working alongside manufacturers Irisbus and Rix Biodiesel, to try to get the bus running on 100 per cent bio-diesel in a year's time.

At the moment, the bus is running on a standard commercial mix of five per cent bio-diesel and 95 per cent diesel.

Mr Muirhead said: "We at least want it running 50/50 in a year's time."

The bus will complement the work at the self-sufficient 6,000sq ft collections centre.

The building, which houses 60 of the finest vehicles in the national collection, has a rainwater harvesting system, which is driven by a wind turbine, to recycle rainfall for use in the steam locomotives.

It also has photovoltaic roof tiles that turn sunlight into electricity to heat and light the building.

Published: 27/09/2004